posted November 03, 2004 12:34 PM
Just goes to show the Democrtic Party needs to regain control from the radical left...they keep losing... and losing... and losing...
GOP Topples Daschle and Sweeps South
By LEIGH STROPE, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Republicans toppled Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, winning their biggest Senate prize after sweeping the South, including a Florida seat Wednesday. Alaska remained undecided.
Republicans were assured 54 Senate seats, expanding their current 51-48 margin, with one Democratic-leaning independent.
Daschle, who was elected to the Senate in 1986 and also served eight years in the House, planned to concede midday in Sioux Falls, S.D., according to congressional sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Democrats hoped for a defection to ease the pain. Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record) said he would consider switching parties if President Bush (news - web sites) were re-elected.
"I'm not ruling it out," Chafee told The Providence Journal. Known for moderate views that often run counter to the Bush administration, Chafee said he cast a write-in vote for Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, in Tuesday's election, calling it a "symbolic protest."
In Florida, Democrat Betty Castor conceded defeat Wednesday in a tight contest with Mel Martinez, a Cuban emigrant who left Bush's Cabinet to run for the seat opened by retiring Sen. Bob Graham (news, bio, voting record), a Democrat. Martinez will be the nation's first Cuban-American senator.
"This is as close as it gets, in my humble estimation," Castor said. She won 48 percent of the vote to Martinez's 49 percent.
In Alaska, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (news, bio, voting record), who was considered the most endangered Republican, was leading former Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles.
Republicans were surprised by their Senate showing, winning competitive races in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Louisiana — where the GOP won its first seat since Reconstruction.
"Nobody expected that," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Wednesday on NBC's "Today." Frist, whose name has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2008, planned a victory tour in which he would join the newly elected Republican senators from the South.
Daschle, who was labeled an obstructionist by Republicans, garnered 49 percent of the vote to 51 percent for his GOP challenger, former Rep. John Thune. With all precincts reporting, Daschle fell short by about 4,500 votes.
The last time a Senate leader was unseated was in 1952, when Barry Goldwater of Arizona turned Senate Majority Leader Ernest McFarland out of office.
An Associated Press exit poll showed that South Dakota voters concerned with moral values and terrorism helped Thune.
Democrats had a nearly insurmountable hurdle to take control of the Senate, since most of the competitive races were in states where Bush was strong.
In Illinois, state Sen. Barack Obama easily won, making him the only black member of the new Senate that convenes in January. He cautioned against a GOP mandate.
"You still need 60 votes in the Senate to make things happen," Obama said Wednesday on NBC's "Today." "The Republicans don't have 60 votes. My hope would be that they recognize that, and the Democrats are willing to serve as a loyal opposition."
The strengthened Republican Senate probably will mean more votes to confirm nominees to the Supreme Court in a second Bush term. One Republican winner, Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania, is in line to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (news - web sites), which holds confirmation hearings on court nominees.
In other notable races:
_Former GOP Rep. Tom Coburn trounced Rep. Brad Carson (news, bio, voting record) in an Oklahoma race less competitive than predicted.
_Incumbent Republican Jim Bunning in Kentucky won a narrow victory over challenger Daniel Mongiardo.
_In South Carolina, GOP Rep. Jim DeMint (news, bio, voting record) handily defeated Democratic challenger Inez Tenenbaum after stirring controversy by saying unwed mothers and homosexuals shouldn't be school teachers.
_Richard Burr won North Carolina by more than 5 percent over Democrat Erskine Bowles, the one-time chief of staff to former President Clinton (news - web sites).
_In Louisiana, Rep. David Vitter (news, bio, voting record) won an outright majority of more than 51 percent and avoided the runoff that under state law would have taken place Dec. 4 if he had not topped 50 percent.
_Democrats will have the first Hispanic senator in more than a quarter century. Ken Salazar was narrowly elected in Colorado over Republican beer executive Pete Coors.